130 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the latter the fish hang quietly while they sport about freely in the 

 bow-nets and thereby attract the attention of their enemies. 



Frequently Seals will attack bow-nets filled with fish from the 

 outside by tearing the sides and catching and devouring the fish 

 which try to escape through the openings. But they also know 

 how to find their way through the neck of the bow-net by advan- 

 cing from one chamber to the other until they reach the fish in 

 the last chamber. But as the last chamber of the bow-net has a 

 narrower entrance than the first, it sometimes happens that the 

 robber is caught and killed by the fishermen. On the whole, how- 

 ever, such cases are rare, because the bow-nets do not possess the 

 necessary power of resistance required to hold the Seals, which 

 are armed with very sharp teeth. 



It is not easy to answer the question as to how the evil can 

 best be remedied, for even the use of poisoned fish as bait (apart 

 from the danger connected with this method) would not be of any 

 use, because the Seals are very choice in the selection of their 

 food, and would only take to the dead bait if there was absolutely 

 no chance to get fresh fish, a case which will hardly ever occur in 

 the open sea. It might be recommended to make an experiment 

 with bow-nets made with galvanized-iron wire, painted brown? 

 lite the colour of the bow-nets usually employed. The shape of 

 these bow-nets should be that of the common bow-nets used for 

 catching Cod, but the entrances to the different chambers should 

 be so arranged as to make it easy for the Seals to slip in. Live 

 fish — especially Cod, of which the Seals are very fond — might, if 

 necessary, be put in these bow-nets when they are set ; but there 

 would probably be no lack of bait to attract the Seals, as even in 

 wire bow-nets plenty of fish are caught. Such an experiment, 

 which should be made in places frequented by Seals, would 

 not involve any great expense, and would certainly be a step 

 towards solving the question as to the best mode of protecting the 

 fishermen against the Seals. 



The chief cause why the Seals infest our fishing-grounds in 

 such large numbers must, however, be sought in the circumstance 

 that in many places they enjoy full protection, so that sportsmen 

 and visitors to watering-places may have a chance to follow the 

 sport of Seal-hunting. Near the Island of Riigen certain dis- 

 tricts are leased to Seal-hunters, and the persons owning these 

 districts take good care that the Seals shall not decrease but 

 rather increase, in number. 



